Flush valve



March 30, 1937.A G, DUNCAN, JR 2,075,029

FLUSH VALVE Filed March 16, 1934 Patented Mar. 3U, 1937 FFICE FLUSH VALVE tion of California Application March 16, i934, Serial No. 715,829

i9 Claims.

My invention relates to valves for the control of hydraulic flow, referring especially to hush valves, and is directed particularly to improvements in that type of flush valve in which a manually operable release valve controls the direction of preponderating pressure against a main-valve-actuating piston. Such valves are widely employed in lavatories.

In a tall building, a vacuum may be created in 10 the water supply pipe when an outlet valve on a lower i'loor is open while the main valve or the building is closed. The vacuum resulting from partially evacuating of water pipes on floors above the opened outlet'valve may register as low .as 13 pounds per square inch below atmospheric pressure. It has been found that a diiierential much less than 13 pounds will initiate siphonage suiricient to open an ordinary flush valve and sufficient to draw water back through ,0 the flush valve into the fresh water supply pipe.

It is highly desirable, therefore, to prevent reverse siphonage by designing the flush valve to withstand such reverse pressure.

I have attained this end largely by providing for friction between the piston and the surcunding wall of the valve of suii'icient effectiveness to hold the piston at the closed position against any vacuum encountered in practice; and it is an important object of my invention to provide such frictional relationship between the piston and the piston chamber without causing the piston to bind or to fail to move freely when required.

The features of my invention pertinent to this object, as well as other advantages had in the design, will be apparent and best explained in the detailed description that follows.

In the drawing- Fig. 1 is a longitudinal central section of the complete valve in the closed position;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a portion of the valve showing certain moving parts moved to the open position;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly broken, of the combined piston and valve member, removed 4,3 from the valve;

Fig. 4 is a similar view of a modified form of the combined piston and valve member; and

Fig. 5 is an axial section taken through the modied form of piston and valve member, shown 50 with certain ccacting parts of the valve.

Valve body 2t forms a piston chamber 2i, an outlet passage 22 concentric with the piston chamber, and a lateral inlet passage 23 below the piston chamber. A flanged outlet pipe 2d 55 presses against a gasket 2o at the end of outlet passage 22.

passage 22 and is secured thereto in the usual manner by union nut 26. Outlet passage 22 is extended inward by a cylindrical wall il, the inner rim 23 of which extends slightly into piston chamber 2l and serves as the main valve seat.

Inlet passage 23 is threaded at 29 in the usual manner, and terminates 'in an annular space 3B around cylindrical wall El, which space, in turn, communicates with piston chamber 2 l.

In the operation oi the valve, a by-pass is 10 necessary to provide communication between the inlet passage and the piston chamber. Such provision may be made by boring a passage through the body of the valve to receive a Monelmetal core or liner 3 l, the core being restricted at 15 its inlet end in order to provide self-cleaning actie-n. Preferably, a portion Si. of the valve body extends into inlet passage 23 adjacent the bypass sleeve 3i to partialiy obstruct the flow of water through the inlet passage, thereby forming o back pressure to favor diversion of water through the by-pass.

The peripheral wall of piston chamber 2l is threaded on the inside to receive the circular ange 35i of a valve cap 35. To provide a Water- 25 tight joint, ari-external annular shoulder 36 of the cap is suitably recessed to receive a gasket 31, which presses against the edge of wall 33 when the parts are assembled. Cap 35 is provided with an inwardly extending axial boss 3S, which boss 0 is bored and threaded to receive a set-screw 39 and a protecting screw for purposes which will be later apparent,

At the inner end of piston chamber 2i, forming the rim of annular space 3Q, is an annular 35 shoulder it suitably recessed to seat a ring gasket |12. Resting on gasket t2 is the lower edge of a sleeve or circular liner the liner being confined between gasket i2 and annular shoulder fill formed on the inside of cap 35. Sleeve 553 is made of 40 hard, smooth, non-porous material, such as glass, and preferably is shaped as the irustrum of a cone, the smaller end resting upon lower gasket 42. In order to extend the by-pass communication to the piston chamber within sleeve/33, suitable grooves i5 are formed longitudinally along the inner surface oi cap ange Sli and are extended radially inward across shoulder fifi of the cap.

A piston lili, preferably frusto-conical in shape, with the smaller end downward, is slidably embraced by sleeve !3 and is adapted to move to and from a position abutting rim 23 sealing outlet rihe piston is made in one piece of rubber, preferably of a grade to resist chemiitil - cal action, such as oil stock rubber; the lower face 41 of the piston may be provided with a peripheral ange 48 and the upper edge of the piston may be provided with a peripheral lip 49 that tends to press outward to the position shown in Fig. 3. These lips increase the sealing eiciency ofthe piston against liner 43.

The piston is hollowed out `on itsl upper side, so that upper face 5B is surrounded by a relatively thick resilient wall 5I At about its middle point on its periphery the piston is centrally reduced in diameter to form a shallow and relatively wide peripheral recess 52. Embedded in the piston as a stiiener is a metal core prefer- 5 ably in the form of a perforated disc or spider 53 having an axial bore 54 and a series of similar bores 55 arranged concentrically thereto. The rubber is cut away to expose these apertures as shown in the drawing.

For vthe purpose of normally sealing the piston apertures, a relief valve 55 is provided in the form of a disc 5'! of bronze or other material having an operating stem 58. Disc 5l is of a diameter to overlie all of the apertures 55, and is provided with a peripheral shoulder 59 to improve its sealing contact with face 5d of the piston. Valve stem 58 extends loosely through axial bore 54 and the bore is enlarged at each end to permit the relief valve to be rocked to some such position as that indicated b-y the dotted lines. A helical expansile spring Bl), surrounding stem 58, is compressed between spider 53 and a spring Wire clip 6| that seats in a peripheral recess 62 in the valve stem.

On level with the lower end of stem 58, valve body 20 is provided with an external radially extending boss 63 and is also provided with a cylindrical portion 64 in axial alignment therewith bridging annular space 3l) between outer wall 65 of the body and inner wall 21 of outlet passage 22. Boss 63 and cylindrical portion 64 are axially bored to embrace slidingly a plunger 56 having a disc head 6T on its outer end.

The periphery of boss 63 is threaded to receive a retaining sleeve 68 that extends beyond the outer end of the boss. The outer end of sleeve 68 is flanged inward to form an annular shoulder 69. Sleeve 68 serves to retain, in a flexible manner, an operating handle '10, the reduced portion or neck H of which extends into the open end of the sleeve, the enlarged inner end l2 of the handle being engaged by annular shoulder 69.

The inner end of handle 'lll presents a circular surface complementary to head El of plunger 66. Boss 63 has an axial counterbore 13 at the inner end of which packing 'I4 is held by a packing gland 15. A helical, expansile spring 16, surrounding plunger 66 and having one end seated against gland 15 and the other end in compression against head El of the plunger, serves the dual purpose Vof normally holding plunger 66 free of relief valve operating stem 58 and also of pressing gland 15 against packing '14,

When the valve is in the non-operative position, moving parts are positioned as shown in Fig. 1. Spring 'I5 retains plunger 6B withdrawn from contact with relief valve operating stem 58 and also exerts pressure to hold handle 'iii in its horizontal position. Relief valve 5G is seated on face 5!! of the piston, and is held there both by pressure exerted by spring 65 and by pressure exerted from inlet passage 23 through by-pass sleeve 3i and lay-pass grooves 45.

When operating handle 'lll is deflected in any direction, plunger head 61 is moved inward and plunger E56 rocks the relief valve, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. As soon as the relief valve is open, pressure is immediately reduced in the piston chamber above piston 46 and the piston thereupon rises under pressure from annular chamber Si?, unsealing outlet passage 22. It will be noted that relief apertures 55 are considerably larger in total cross-section than 1oy-pass 3|. The upward movement of the piston is limited by the position of set screw 39, contact with which also serves to exert pressure to seat relief valve 55. Water flows from inlet passage 23 through annular space 3d, over valve seat 28, and down through outlet passage 22. The amount of flow depends upon the extent piston 46 moves upward, and may, therefore, be adjusted through the medium of screw 39.

When handle I is released, spring 'l5 immediately forces both the handle and plunger 65 back to their normal positions. Water from inlet passage 23 pours slowly upward through bypass 3i, annular space 2l, by-pass grooves 45, into the piston chamber above piston 4G. Pressure above the piston gradually builds up and forces the piston back into sealing contact with valve seat 28. As piston 46 moves downward to the closed position, water flowing against relief valve operating stem 58 tends to oscillate the valve in an objectionably noisy manner. Spring 6d prevents such action.

Reverse pressure attendant upon the creation of a vacuum in inlet passage 23 is opposed both by spring SB acting upon the relief valve and by the frictional relationship between piston 46 and liner 43. Since the maximum pressure differential in such a situation is not usually greater than i3 pounds per square inch, spring B0 is of suricient strength to withstand that pressure against the under side of relief valve 56. I also design the piston to have such frictional engage ment with sleeve 43 as to resist the same pressure differential exerted from outlet passage 22. In this connection, the virtue of combining the rubber piston with the tapering sleeve becomes ap parent.

By virtue of the tapered relationship between the piston and the liner, the abnormal friction necessary to withstand the Siphon effect is engendered only at the bottom of the piston stroke when the valve is seated. It will be noted, in Fig. l, that at the bottom position there is only a relatively thin cushion of rubber between the non-resilient spider 53 and the inner peripheral wall or the tapered sleeve 43. As the piston moves upward, the radial pressure of the piston against the sleeve is decreased rapidly and the importance of ange 48 as a seal is increased. Because of the relatively large forces developed by ordinary water pressures acting against such surfaces, friction does not interfere with the operation of the valve. In fact, the increased friction at the bottom of the piston stroke has one desirable effect, in that it causes the piston to move upward suddenly when that friction is overcome, and also retards the downward or closing movement of the piston.

The piston wall is of such an extent longitudinally, however, that there would be ordinarily some tendency for the piston to stick at its seat when the pressure upward is mainly that exerted in annular space 36. An important factor in the construction of my valve that reduces such tendency of the piston to stick is the fact that the Cil 4piston is of rubber and the surrounding wall is of glass. y

I have found that rubber, when lubricated by water, will not bind in a positive manner against glass. In order to insure lubrication of the coacting surfaces by water, I have provided the annular recess 52 around the periphery of the piston. This recess serves to entrap water and to distribute the water between the coacting surfaces. Even when such a valve is not open for an extensive period of time, the piston will act efficiently.

It is apparent then, that by providing a resilient piston having an unconfined diameter greater than the diameter of the retaining piston chamber wall, I have developed sufficient friction to resist siphonage when a vacuum is in the feed pipe, and that I have solved certain problems in such frictonal relationship, first, by providing a tapered wall around the piston, second,by providing rubber and glasscoacting surfaces in a water medium, and, third, by designing the piston with peripheral recesses for distributing the water between the coacting surfaces. A shallow peripheral recess of the configuration shown tends to disappear under radial pressure, therefore, by virtue of the recess more surface of the piston is in frictional contact with the sleeve at the closed position of the valve than at the open position. The structure shown, then, not only provides for variable pressure radially but also and concurrently variable areas in contact.

rIhe construction of a modified form of my piston to be employed in low-pressure water systems, is indicated in Figs. 4.- and 5. The modified piston 11 is similar to the rst form in general configuration, differing only in the shape of its peripheral surface. There is a central peripheral flange 18 extending radially outward from the piston and dividing its peripheral surface into two peripheral recesses 19, formed by increasing the diameter of the piston towards upper edge and towards lower edge 8|.

Itis contemplated that when the second form of piston is installed within a valve, as indicated by Fig. 5, edges 80 and 8l will have but slight frictional relationship with piston chamber sleeve 43a, these edges serving merely as guides to keep the piston axially aligned with the sleeve, while the central flange 18, compressed by the sleeve, serves as the necessary seal. Other parts of this gure are similar to parts correspondingly numbered in the other figures.

For the purpose of completely disclosing my invention and illustrating the principles involved, I have described in specific detail the preferred form of my improvement. The invention is, however, suggestive of a wide range of modifications and structural changes, and I, therefore, reserve the right to all such changes and modifications that properly come within the scope of my appended claims. For example, for the purposes of my invention, smooth, hard, non-porous,

non-corrosive materials such as bakelite and simi- -lar compositions may be substituted for glass and are to be considered equivalent thereof. The term vitreous-like in my claims is to'be defined broadly to include such materials.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. A flush valve having, in combination: a body having an inlet passage and an outlet passage; a valve seat associated with the outlet passage; a frusto-conical sleeve of vitreous-like material housed within the body, with its smaller end adjacent the valve seat; a circular rubber valve member spanning the sleeve to slide axially therein, one face of the valve member being adapted to seal said valve seat; a by-pass providing communication between the inlet passage and the space in the sleeve adjacent the opposite face of the valve member; a relief passage providing communication between said space in the sleeve and the outlet passage; and a manually operable auxiliary relief valve normally closing the relief passage.

2.- A flush valve having, in combination: a body having an inlet passage and an outlet passage; a valve seat associated with the outlet passage; a frusto-conical sleeve housed within the body with its smaller end adjacent the valve seat; a frustoconical rubber valve member spanning the sleeve to slide axially therein, the smaller face of the valve member being adaptedto seal said valve seat; a by-pass providing communication between the inlet passage and the space in the sleeve adjacent the opposite face of the valve member; a relief passage providing communication between said space in the sleeve and the outlet passage; and a manually operable auxiliary relief valve normally closing the relief passage.

3. A flush valve having, in combination: a body having a piston chamber, an inlet passage and an outlet passage; a sleeve of vitreous-like ma'- terial lining said chamber; a valve seat at one end of the chamber associated with the outlet passage; a relatively thick rubber piston axially slidable in the sleeve to and from sealing contact with the valve seat, said piston having a peripheral recess to trap water when confined in said sleeve; a relatively small by-pass providing communication between the inlet passage and the piston chamber; a relatively large relief passage providing communication between the outlet passage and the piston chamber; and a manually operable relief valve controlling the relief passage.

4. A iiush valve having, in combination: a body having an inlet passage and an outlet passage; a valve seat associatedV with the outlet passage; a frusto-conical sleeve of vitreous-like material housed within the body, with its smaller end adjacent the valve seat; a circular rubber valve member spanning the sleeve to slide axially therein, one face of the valve member being adapted to seal said valve seat, said valve member having a peripheral recess when confined in said sleeve; a by-pass providing communication between the inlet passage and the space in the sleeve ad jacent the opposite face of the valve member; a relief passage providing communication between said space in the sleeve and the outlet passage; and a manually operable auxiliary relief valve normally closing the relief passage.

5. A flush valve having, in combination: a body having an inlet passage and an outlet passage; a valve seat associated with the outlet passage; a frusto-conical sleeve housed within the body with its smaller end adjacent the valve seat; a frusto-conical rubber valve member spanning the sleeve to slide axially therein, the smaller face of the valve member being adapted to seal said valve seat, said valve member having a peripheral recess when confined in said sleeve; a by-pass providing communication between the inlet passage and the space in the sleeve adjacent the opposite faceA of the valve member; a relief passage providing communication between said space in the sleeve and the outlet passage; and a manually operable auxiliary relief valve normally closing the relief passage.

Gil

6. A flush valve having, in combination: a body having a piston chamber, an inlet passage and an outlet passage; a valve seat associated with the outlet passage; a rubber piston axially slidable in the chamber to and from sealing contact with the valve seat, said piston being suiciently compressed radially by the chamber wall to remain unmoved under approximately 13 pounds per square inch preponderance of pressure from the outlet passage when the piston is seated; a bypass providing communication between the inlet passage and the piston chamber; a relief passage providing communication between the outlet passage and the piston chamber; a manually operable relief valve controlling said relief passage; and yielding means normally holding the relief valve closed, said means being of sufficient strength to withstand approximately 13 pounds per square inch prepcnderanceof pressure on the outlet side of the relief valve.

7. A flush valve having, in combination: a body having an inlet passage, an outlet passage and an intermediate frusto-conical piston chamber tapering inward towards said outlet passage; a valve seat in the chamber at the 'end of the outlet passage; a rubber piston confined with substantial radial pressure in the chamber for movement to and from sealing Contact with the valve seat; said piston fitting into the said frusto-conical chamber with suicient friction to maintain itself on the said seat against approximately thirteen pounds per square inch preponderance of pressure on the outlet face of the piston; a by-pasS providing communication between the inlet passage and the piston chamber; a relief passage providing communication between the outlet passage and the piston chamber; a relief valve controlling the relief passage; yielding means normally holding the relief valve closed; and manually operable means to open the relief valve.

8. A flush Valve having, in combination: a body having aninlet passage, an outlet passage and an intermediate frusto-conical piston chamber tapering inward towards said outlet passage; a Valve l, seat in the chamber at the end of the outlet passage; a frusto-conical rubber piston confined with substantial radial pressure in the chamber for movement to and from sealing contact with the valve seat, the smaller face of the piston being disposed towards the valve seat; said piston fitting into the said frusto-conical chamber with sufiicient friction to maintain itself on the said seat against approximately thirteen pounds per square inch preponderance of pressure on the outlet face of the piston; a by-pass providing communication between the inlet passage and the piston chamber; a relief passage providing communication between the outlet passage and the piston chamber; a relief valve controlling the relief passage; yielding means normally holding the relief valve closed; and manually operable means to open the relief valve.

9. A flush valve having, in combination: a body having an inlet passage, an outlet passage and an intermediate frusto-conical piston chamber tapering inward towards said outlet passage; a valve seat in the chamber at the end of the outlet passage; a frusto-conical rubber piston axially slidable in the chamber to and from sealing contact with the valve seat, the smaller face of the piston being disposed to-wards the valve seat, said piston having one or more peripheral recesses when confined in said piston chamber; a bypass providing communication between the inlet passage and the piston chamber; a relief passage providing communication between the outlet passage and the piston chamber; a relief valve controlling the relief passage; yielding means normally holding the relief valve closed; and manually operable means to open the relief valve.

l0. A flush valve having, in combination: a body having an inlet passage, an outlet passage and an intermediate frusto-conical piston chamber tapering inward towards said outlet passage; a valve seat in the chamber at the end of the o'utlet passage; a one-piece rubber piston axially slidable in the chamber to and from sealing contact with the valve seat, said piston being of a normal diameter and resiliency to create sufficient friction with the chamber walls to withstand approximately 13 pounds per square inch preponderance of pressure on the outlet face of the piston; a by-pass providing communication between the inlet passage and the piston chamber; a relief passage providing communication between the outlet passage and the piston chamber; a manually operable relief valve controlling said relief passage; and yielding means normally holding the relief valve closed, said means being of suicient strength to withstand approximately 13 pounds per square inch preponderance of pressure on the outlet side of the relief valve.

11. A ush valve having, in combination: a body having an inlet passage, an outlet passage and an intermediate frusto-conical piston chamber tapering inward towards said outlet passage; a valve seat in the chamber at the end of the outlet passage; a frusto-conical rubber piston axially slidable in the chamber to and from sealing contact with the valve seat, the smaller face of the piston being disposed towards the Valve seat, said piston having one or more peripheral recesses, said piston, at the sealing position, being compressed radially by the chamber to create sufcient friction to withstand approximately 13 pounds per square inch preponderanoe of pressure on the outlet face of the piston; a by-pass providing communication between the inlet passage and the piston chamber; a relief passage providing communication between the outlet passage and the piston chamber; a manually operable relief valve controlling said relief passage; and yielding means normally holding the relief valve closed, said means being of sufficient strength to withstand approximately 13 pounds per square inch preponderance of pressure on the outlet side of the relief valve.

12. A flush valve having, in combination: a body having a piston chamber, an inlet passage and an outlet passage; a valve seat associated with the outlet passage; a by-pass providing communication between the inlet passage and the piston chamber; a rubber piston axially slidable in the chamber to and from sealing contact with the valve seat, said piston having a plurality of apertures, said piston fitting into the chamber with suicient friction to withstand approximately 13 pounds per square inch preponderance of pressure on the outlet face of the piston; yielding means on the stem acting against the piston to seat the valve member, said yielding means being of sufficient strength to withstand approximately 13 pounds per square inch preponderance of pressure from the outlet passage; and manually operable means to actuate said stem.

13. A flush Valve having, in combination: a body having a piston chamber and an inlet passage and an outlet passage communicating with the chamber; a by-pass providing communication between the inlet passage and the piston chamber; a valve seat in the chamber at the end of the outlet passage; a frusto-conical sleeve of vitreous-like material lining the chamber with its smaller end concentric to and disposed towards the valve seat; a frusto-conical rubber piston axially slidable in the chamber to and from sealing contact with the valve seat, the smaller end of the piston being disposed towards the seat, said piston having a peripheral recess, said piston having a plurality of relatively large apertures therethrough; a valve member normally sealing said apertures and having an operating stem extending through one of said apertures into the outlet passage; yielding means on the stem acting against the piston to seat the valve member; and manually operable means to actuate said stem,

14. A iiush valve having, in combination: a body having an inlet passage and an outlet passage; a valve sea-t at the inner end of the outlet passage; a piston chamber in the body having frusto-conical walls tapering inward towards the valve seat; a resilient piston axially slidable in the chamber to and from sealing contact with the valve seat; said piston fitting into the said frusto-conical chamber with sufcient friction to maintain itself on the said seat against approximately thirteen pounds per square inch preponderance of pressure on the outlet face of the piston; a non-resilient core within said resilient piston; a by-pass providing communication between the inlet passage and the piston chamber; a relief passage providing communication between the outlet passa-ge and the piston chamber; and a manually operable auxiliary relief valve controlling the relief passage.

15. A flush valve having, in combination: a valve chamber having frusto-conical Walls of vitreous-like material; a frusto-conical rubber valve member slidable in said chamber from an open position at the larger end of the chamber to a closed position at the smaller end of the chamber and vice versa; and a non-resilient core embedded in said rubber valve member laterally near its smaller end to increase the friction between the valve member and the chamber walls at the closed position of the valve.

16. In a flush valve, the combination of: a valve body having a laterally disposed inlet passage, a longitudinally disposed outlet passage, and a valve chamber at the inner end of said outlet passage; a removable member sealing the outer end of said valve chamber; a circular sleeve of vitreous-like material in the valve chamber secured by said removable member, there being a by-pass from the inlet passage to the valve cham.-

ber outside the sleeve and around the upper edge of the sleeve; a circular rubber valve member slidingly mounted in said sleeve to move into sealing relation with the inner end of said outlet passage, said valve member having a relief passage therethrough; a normally closed valve controlling said relief passage; and manually operable means to open said relief valve.

17. In a ush valve, the combination of: a

valve body having a laterally disposed inlet passage, a longitudinally disposed outlet passage, and a valve chamber at the inner end of Said outlet passage; a removable member sealing the outer end of said valve chamber; a frusto-conical sleeve in the valve chamber secured by said removable member with its smaller end adjacent the inner end of said outlet passage, there being a by-pass from the inlet passage to the valve chamber outside the sleeve and around the upper edge of the sleeve; a frusto-conical resilient valve member slidingly mounted in said sleeve to move into sealing relation with the inner end of said outlet passage, said valve member having a peripheral recess when confined in the sleeve, said valve member having a relief passage therethrough, a normally closed valve controlling said relief passage; and manually operable means to open said relief valve.

18. In a flush valve, the combination of: a valve body having a laterally disposed inlet passage, a longitudinally disposed outlet passage, and a valve chamber at the inner end of said outlet passage; a removable member sealing the outer end of said valve chamber; a frusto-conical sleeve of vitreous-like material in the valve chamber secured by said removable member with its smaller end adjacent the inner end of said outlet passage, there being a by-pass from the inlet passage to the valve chamber outside the sleeve and around the upper edge of the sleeve; a frusto-conical rubber valve member slidingly mounted in said sleeve to move into sealing relation with the inner end of said outlet passage, said valve member having a peripheral recess when conned in the sleeve, said valve member having a relief passage therethrough; a normally closed valve controlling said relief passage; and manually operable means to open said relief valve.

19. A flush valve having a body of resilient material and of frusto-conical form, said valve having an opening therethrough, and a metal core embedded in the said resilient body, said core having an opening therethrough aligning with the opening through the resilient valve body, so that said valve presents a resilient face at each end of the frusto-conical body.

GEORGE C. DUNCAN, JR. 

